Word: faa
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...problem is the high dropout rate among air controller trainees at the FAAs Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. When the strike began last August, the FAA announced plans to train 5,500 new controllers a year, triple the usual number; nine months later only 1,490 have graduated from the Oklahoma academy. Of the 717 trainees who enrolled in the first class last August, only 406 passed; normally 75% of the trainees graduate from the twelve-to 16-week program. Since then, the entrance exams have been made more stringent, and the FAA claims that now about...
Perhaps the most serious charge leveled against the FAA is that morale in the towers is deteriorating as a result of poor relations between tower supervisors and the controllers-which was a major cause of last year's strike. Says one New York controller: "You are discouraged from calling in sick or taking any time off. The attitude is, 'There is a job to do, and we don't give a damn what problems you might have.' " A study commissioned by Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis shortly after the strike began and released last March showed that...
...FAA stoutly denies the criticisms-and so do many controllers. Officials point out that a controller's work is easier than it used to be, thanks to the installation of new computers and a reduction in the number of flights. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, for example, now handles only 85% of the flights it did before the strike. Many controllers agree that the mood in the towers has actually improved. Says Larry Donald, a controller at Charleston Municipal Airport: "There's more camaraderie...
...little tired these days," says a controller at the Aurora Air Traffic Control Center, which clears all planes coming into O'Hare. "But nobody I know has cut a corner, and nobody is too tired to do his job properly." Indeed, FAA officials contend that PATCO diehards, still furious at losing their union status, are intentionally stirring up talk of trouble in the control towers. Obviously, the nation's airports cannot be run indefinitely under present conditions, and the FAA hopes to bring the force of controllers up to full strength, 13,000, by 1984. Meanwhile, officials point...
...concerns about airline standards that determine a pilot's fitness to fly. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that a U.S. commercial pilot pass a rigorous physical examination every six months, as well as an assessment of his or her emotional stability. The failure rate is low; an FAA study showed that for every 1,000 pilots tested, only eight are denied certification for medical reasons, and only two of those for psychoneurotic disorders. Those who flunk are automatically grounded until they can pass the examination. Most international airlines conform to the FAA requirement that their pilots pass regular proficiency...